The Korean car maker has always tried to put some fizz into its family with a host of sporties, dating as far back as the S-Coupe right up to today’s funky three-door Veloster. But none have really hit the mark for hard-core enthusiasts.

But Hyundai Australia is clearly a little impatient and wants to get in on the action sooner rather than later. It has already kick-started things with its own SR versions of the Accent and i30, and is now toying with the idea to light the wick on the range-topping Veloster SR Turbo.

Its skunkworks division has created a prototype – which it dubs the VelostoRaptor – using a suite of aftermarket performance products designed to increase its power and road holding ability, but has yet to commit on whether, or how, it makes it viable for showroom sales, either as a limited edition model, a full-time variant or a list of options as a performance parts division.

Whatever it eventually decides to do, as it has done with the locally-tuned suspension program undertaken on its regular family cars, what the VelosteRaptor proves today is that Hyundai Australia is not just prepared to take what it gets from its Korean headquarters.

As far as what has been done, the car has an upgraded engine management system that extracts more power and torque with Hyundai estimating the 1.6-litre turbo charged four cylinder now produces around 195kW and 318Nm – up from 150kW/ 260Nm in standard trim – while a performance cat-back exhaust system liberates a bit more aural character.

To get the extra grunt to the ground, there’s a Quaife limited slip diff and revised suspension with stiffer progressive rate King Springs, re-tuned dampers from Mando, SuperPro bushes and lightweight Rays alloys wrapped in sticky Pirelli P-Zero rubber.

The development team hasn’t done as much on the stopping side of things, but there are braided brake lines and high-performance Winmax pads.

The end result is that the VelosteRaptor feels noticeably faster than the standard car, both in a straight line and through the bends.

The engine tune still has a few bugs to be ironed out as the power delivery is quite peaky but it is definitely stronger through the mid range with enough power to overcome the LSD and generate wheelspin out of tight corners. But the exhaust makes it sound fruitier with a louder rasp under heavy acceleration and a nice burble when you back off the throttle.

The sporty nature is let down a little by the gearbox, which still feels vague in its shifts but could easily be fixed and made more precise with some tighter linkages.

The LSD and suspension changes, however, make the biggest difference to the way it drives. The diff still needs some fine-tuning in the way it operates, as there’s a noticeable tug through the steering wheel under acceleration and, as mentioned, it still doesn’t completely arrest wheelspin out of tight corners, but it helps generate significantly more traction and stability through medium-to-high speed bends.

Similarly, the suspension transforms the handling of the Veloster as it sits much flatter and works well with the stickier tyres to generate significantly more cornering grip.

Taking the concept to another level, Hyundai has also created a stripped-out race-ready Veloster that was initially designed to take on events such as the annual Targa Tasmania road rally.

While the engine produces around the same amount of power, it features even stickier rubber, bigger brakes, fully-adjustable suspension and its cabin has all the safety gear needed for competition, including race harnesses, bucket seats and a welded-in roll cage.

It doesn’t feel that much quicker in a straight line and the gearbox still suffers the same vagueness as the VelosteRaptor, but once the semi-slick tyres are hot enough the Race Concept holds the road even tighter with more grip while the brakes, although they have very little feel and require the strength of an elephant, have massive stopping power.

The Race Concept has been around a few years now, and Hyundai bosses are pushing to put it into action, but the priority – and bigger opportunity – is putting some fizz into the production car, particularly in light of the success of rivals such as the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ.

There’s a couple of hurdles Hyundai has to jump before the VelosteRaptor becomes a reality though – firstly durability testing to ensure the package holds up to Hyundai’s internal reliability requirements and secondly how much it will cost – but, if, or when, it sees the light of day, today it showcases that the local outpost has the know-how and desire to push the boundaries of the brand.